Documentary, New York, NY Director(s), African American Director(s)
By the people and for the people, community organizing group ACORN became a major player in the 2008 presidential election that resulted in Barack Obama’s victory. Conservatives took issue with the group, firing accusations of voter fraud and government waste at the left-leaning organization. The burgeoning right-wing opposition found unexpected allies in James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles. The pair of young conservatives and amateur journalists posed as a pimp and prostitute to try to expose ACORN’s business practices via a hidden camera. The ensuing political drama spawned the now-omnipresent Breitbart Media, drove an even deeper wedge between Democrats and Republicans, and served as a prescient foreshadowing for much of today’s political climate. A comprehensive non-fiction political thriller, Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard’s blow-by-blow account of the ACORN scandal encapsulates the conflicts and contradictions of our political present.
—Matt Barone
CAST & CREDITS
Directed by Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard
Reuben Atlas is an award-winning filmmaker who co-directed, Sour Grapes. He directed Brothers Hypnotic, which Sam Pollard was the supervising producer on. Pollard produced the Academy Award®-nominated documentary Four Little Girls as well as When the Levees Broke, and If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, and directed Slavery by Another Name.
Director
Reuben Atlas, Sam Pollard
Screenwriter
Reuben Atlas, Sam Pollard
Cinematographer
Frank Larson, Spencer Chumbley, Natalie Kingston, Nati Gamez